Opening night: Celebrating 50 years of The Oliviers with The Observer and Curtis Brown

Mark Strong, Paapa Essiedu and Isis Hainsworth were among the stars mixing it up at the glitzy pre-Oliviers party hosted by Curtis Brown

Lily Isaacs

Theatre

The Oliviers

Playwright Suzie Miller: ‘Everything I write has a touch of my lived life’

Susannah Clapp: ‘How I became a theatre critic’

Photographs by Sofi Adams for The Observer

Theatre’s old guard and its rising stars sipped old-fashioneds, snacked on miniature Russian salads and bites of beef tartare and clinked champagne flutes at the pre-Olivier Awards party on Thursday night, co-hosted by Curtis Brown and The Observer.

Clusters of conversation formed and dissolved: there was nominee Paapa Essiedu in a sharp green two-piece, sipping a martini; Mark Strong deep in discussion with his Oscar-winning wife Liza Marshall; Sue Perkins laughing near the bar; Hugh Skinner in a boxy shirt, also giggling; Elizabeth Day poised in a corner booth in a brown power suit.

Jamael Westman and Paapa Essiedu

Among those weaving through the crowd at Simpson’s in the Strand on Sunday, ahead of the Oliviers, which celebrate the best of live theatre, was Isis Hainsworth, nominated for best actress in a supporting role for her turn in Arcadia at the Old Vic. “I’m a bit terrified and a bit nervous,” admitted the 27-year-old, clutching a drink, as she prepared to talk to the actress Denise Gough, whom she has long admired. Hainsworth said that before going on stage she usually hyped herself up with carefully curated, albeit eclectic, playlists: “Lots of The Lion King… Geese…” For tonight’s performance a soft jazz soundtrack would have to do.

Elsewhere, Grayson Perry cut a distinctive figure in a blue check suit and purple T-shirt. “I’m an ingénue,” he declared. “I’m a show-off.” His latest project is a musical about his own life, which he described as “the most expensive therapy you can imagine”. Irreverent as ever, he took aim at the stuffiness, and exclusivity, of the world of theatre: sometimes, he said, he just “wants to scream at actors and say, ‘You’re just playing charades!’”

Adam Maskell, Grayson and Philippa Perry

Jonny Geller, Curtis Brown’s CEO, reflected on the industry’s challenges. “I do have sympathy for theatre producers,” he said, “but they need people under 40. How does a young family ever go to the theatre now?” Still, he remains optimistic: “We don’t compete with AI. There is nothing more human than a play.”

The comedian Munya Chawawa agreed. “With everything becoming so online, theatre is just the most real experience,” he said, explaining how even one of his most viral memes had its roots in a musical.

Will Young

As the night continued, the party slipped downstairs, where guests sneaked out of the “stage door” for cigarettes and espresso martinis before rejoining the fray. Upstairs, accompanied by hot dogs and chips, hopes for the big night ahead swirled.

Playwright Suzie Miller: ‘Everything I write has a touch of my lived life’

Susannah Clapp: ‘How I became a theatre critic’

Jeremy King, the restaurant’s owner, walked through it all, pleased. He has one wish for Sunday’s ceremony. “I want Arcadia to win,” he said, recalling its playwright, the late Tom Stoppard, who died last year. “He meant a lot to me: we’d all come down from school to see his plays. It would mean so much for him to win so soon after we lost him.”

Sue Perkins

Nearby, Darnell Strom, the head of UTA’s London office, newly arrived from Los Angeles, marvelled at the range of talent in the room. “The UK produces some of the best actors, it punches way above its weight for cultural output,” he said. “There’s something about theatre here which feels part of the fabric of the city… something really special.”